Five quick thoughts: Why Bynum vanished on the boards the last two games

Andrew Bynum looked like the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain when he muscled the Spurs for 30 rebounds to set an opponent single-game rebounding record against them in a convincing victory last week.

Gregg Popovich described Bynum’s earlier success in the first game as a “humiliation” against his team. And as such, they placed extra emphasis on keeping the 7-footer off the glass in the last two games.

Their extra work paid off Friday night as they limited Bynum to two rebounds in their convincing 121-97 victory over the Lakers.

After the big first game effort, Bynum was limited to nine rebounds over the next two games — both Spurs victories.

Popovich credited Tim Duncan for much of the success in Friday’s game against Bynum.

“I think we did do a pretty good job in trying to work early and try to get him out of position as much as we could,” Popovich said. “He’s really a tough cover down there. I thought Timmy did an excellent job of battling him.

“In the first game, I think he humiliated us and the guys were fired up to play better against him and we did.”

It was Bynum’s lowest rebounding night since he was limited to one rebound in 32 minutes in a Game 5 in the 2010 Finals against Boston on June 13, 2010.

“We figured that we should probably block him out. We started with that,” Duncan said. “It’s obviously a focus for us. He hurt us in that respect and it was a focus for us to keep him off, especially the offensive glass.”

Bynum was not a factor in Friday’s game after grabbing two rebounds in the first seven minutes of the game. He was then shut out over his final 22 minutes of playing time.

Tiago Splitter started in the game for the second game, coinciding with the limitations on Bynum’s numbers. Splitter’s numbers were pedestrian (four points, six rebounds) but having another body inside made things much more difficult for Bynum.

Another factor was that the Spurs hit a season-best 61 percent from the field. Their strong shooting resulted in only 30 missed-shot opportunities. The Lakers grabbed 19 of those possible rebounds with the Spurs grabbing 11 offensive boards.

And Spurs forward Boris Diaw said the Spurs made a conscious effort of trying to force Bynum away from the basket to keep him off the boards.

“I think we focused on him a little more,” Diaw said. “In the first game, they killed us on the boards.”

The Spurs’ change in strategy wasn’t caused by being any more physical, according to Bynum.

“They are not more physical, they just spaced out more,” Bynum said. “They bodied up guys. I can get more rebounds and be more aggressive on the boards, but they shot the heck out it.”

Which is the biggest reason why Bynum’s numbers shrank so noticeably from the first game.

Here are four other quick takes from the Spurs’ fourth consecutive victory of at least 20 points in the last five nights.

Much was made of Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili all scoring at least 20 points for the first time this season. The most remarkable statistic in that effort was that none of the trio played in more than 28 minutes. Duncan and Parker didn’t play in the fourth quarter and Ginobili logged only four fourth-quarter minutes as Popovich attempted to squeeze a tad more playing time to help his conditioning.

Kobe Bryant was going to be a little rusty in his first game back after missing his last seven with a bruised left shin. Los Angeles coach Mike Brown said that Bryant didn’t need any convincing to sit out the games and rest with the playoffs approaching. Bryant went for 18 points in 29:49 as he plays himself back into shape. And for all of the talk about the Lakers’ 5-2 spurt with him out of the lineup, his quick assimilation into the rotation will be the biggest factor in determining the Lakers’ playoff success.

Parker was thoroughly outplayed in the Lakers’ earlier victory by Ramon Sessions, whose speed gives his team a different look at the point. But after that first game, Parker bounced back to outscore Sessions 49-15 and limit him to 41.2 percent shooting from the field. The Lakers are quicker with Sessions at the point rather than Derek Fisher, but Parker still appears to have a big advantage over the Lakers’ point. He got to the basket at will over the last two games against them.

Rookie Kawhi Leonard got another tough assignment as he checked Bryant for most of the game. It’s a tough lesson, but Popovich said it was good experience for Leonard. It’s the first of many match-ups he’ll have with Bryant in the future.